Legislative Update from Rep. Iler — November 25, 2024
Last week at the North Carolina General Assembly involved one or two days, depending on whether one was in the House or the Senate. However, the staff and certain committee members had already been working diligently to craft the third in a series of bills to help the victims of recent weather events, like Hurricane Helene in western N.C. We also were able to override the Governor’s veto on two bills, one of which was the mini-budget benefitting education.
Prior to driving to Raleigh last Monday afternoon, I was honored to give a legislative update to the N.C. Beach, Inlet, and Waterway Association (NCBIWA) in Wilmington. This organization is composed of local officials from coastal communities meeting with state and federal agency officers and coastal engineers. They meet and share expertise twice a year.
Tuesday was a momentous day of voting both in the House chamber, as well as in the Republican caucus. Our caucus voted to nominate and elect Rep. Destin Hall of Caldwell County as House Speaker in January. Rep. Mitchell Setzer of Catawba County was picked as Speaker Pro Tem. They will be officially elected when we organize the new General Assembly on January 8th. The Majority Leader and other leaders were elected to lead our caucus.
The entire House met in the afternoon and we overrode the Governor’s veto of House Bill 10 – Require ICE Cooperation and Budget Adjustments, which makes education investments and requires the few sheriffs not cooperating with ICE to do so. Another override was Senate Bill 445 – Recording of Court-Filed Documents. Both bills secured the required three-fifths vote by 72-44 in the House. The Senate overrode the HB-10 veto on Wednesday 30-19, and it became law.
The third installment of Helene relief was passed in the House in Senate Bill 382 – Disaster Relief 3/Budget/Various Law Changes. It allocated over $250 million more to the relief effort and changed certain appointments to make the state board of elections more bipartisan, for example. It passed the House 63-46 and the Senate 30-19 and went to the Governor. We intend to return around December 11th to consider much more disaster relief based on major recovery efforts currently being evaluated. Over $1 billion has been appropriated so far. We also approved the Governor’s appointee to lead the SBI and other appointments.
After arriving back in the county late that night, I was able to meet with the Brunswick County Chamber of Commerce leadership class the next morning to explain how the legislature works with local governments and businesses. The rest of the week was a change of pace for a little Christmas shopping and light travel. As previously stated, we hope to return December 11th for more disaster relief funding and possible veto overrides.